Founded in 2014, Yacht Harbour has now gone through nearly 3 years of rapid growth, packed with milestones and interesting events. In this list are 11 things about Yacht Harbour that are not widely known, but we thought were interesting enough to share.
#1 Yacht Harbour started as an Instagram channel
Even though Yacht Harbour's initial plan was to build a web platform for a marketplace of yachts for sale, the company started an Instagram account in August 2014 to get some sort of traction, ahead of the launch of its website in December of that year.
At a time when no yachting media companies were on the platform, the strategy proved successful and saw Yacht Harbour get to 10,000 followers in under 4 months. This, in turn, proved instrumental to getting the first users to Yacht Harbour.
#2 We power instant results for a Top 5 search engine
Another little known fact about Yacht Harbour is that the company's index powers an instant result snippet for search engine, DuckDuckGo. One of the 5 available search settings on an iPhone, DuckDuckGo is a search engine built with privacy in mind.
Any user searching for a particular yacht on the platform, will see on top of search results an image of the yacht with it's main specifications, which DuckDuckGo displays using an API built by Yacht Harbour on top of its database for the search engine.
#3 News coverage was first meant as a content marketing play
Even though our audience is now spread evenly across its superyacht marketplace and its news section, Yacht Harbour's editorial coverage was started only in October 2015 to act as a content marketing vehicle for its search platform.
Despite these plans, news coverage rapidly evolved and grew to serve the purposes of a true media company, which Yacht Harbour has since become. Stories broken by our news department are now often used as sources by international media such as the BBC, CNBC and others.
#4 We built a chat bot to answer any yachting question
Developed in a wave of growing excitement over chat bots, Brook became the first chat bot in yachting that used a combination of machine learning, natural language recognition and big data to answer any question related to yacht.
Although Brook was since retired due to a lack of users, Yacht Harbour did manage to build a working version, answering over 80% of asked questions. Its original interface can still be seen here. When live it was even accessible from the Telegram messaging platform.
#5 Our content can be found on Forbes and Business Insider
As part of its content distribution strategy, Yacht Harbour struck deals with Business Insider to distribute part of its English-language content and to contribute stories to the French and Russian versions of Forbes.
With news stories around yachting and articles trying to open up the field to a more general audience, this content was read over 2 million times so far in 2017.
#6 We ran a crowdfunding campaign in our first year
Far from today's peak of attention around ICOs, Yacht Harbour ran a crowdfunding campaign in 2015 as an experiment, ahead of the launch of its charter marketplace to offer heavily discounted deals and lifetime advantages for participants.
Through the campaign, Yacht Harbour raised just under $3,000 from a series of contributors. The value of some the items offered then by Yacht Harbour has grown over 1,000x today.
#7 We get 10 million impressions of our content every month
Having rapidly grown from the 23 visitors Yacht Harbour on the day of it's launch, the company's combined channels now reach over 10 million impressions every month. This figure includes Yacht Harbour's website traffic, social media reach and audience on third-party platforms.
#8 There are sometimes easter eggs on Yacht Harbour
Sometimes overtaken by the holiday spirit, Yacht Harbour's homepage can sometimes change to adopt a special skin for limited times as seen above. So far, the company has dressed up its website for Halloween, Christmas and New Year's Eve but other events may soon be coming.
#9 One million minutes are spent watching Yacht Harbour's videos monthly
Playing an increasingly important role for any media company, videos have been a key to Yacht Harbour's success as well with over 800 days worth of videos being watched on our platform every month. The latest Black Pearl video alone reached over 3 million impressions on our network.
#10 Our Facebook page outranks its nearest competition 10 to 1
Owing much of its success to social media, Yacht Harbour has always tried to dominate the space in the superyacht sector and Facebook is currently the most reflective of this paradigm. Whereas Yacht Harbour gets 36,500 engagements on its page every week, the nearest competition currently sits at 3,300 engagements per week.
#11 It took us over 20,000 hours to build the Timeline platform
A major step forward in yacht search, Yacht Harbour's Timeline platform was launched in May 2017 after over 20,000 hours of research. The platform, compared to a Bloomberg terminal for yachting, lets its subscribers track the market in real time, discover the story behind any yacht and find the best deals on the market with big data.
Photos by Julien Hubert
In September the 88 meter Maltese Falcon started a major refit at Lusben yard. The work will be continued in May 2023, so the yacht can join Burgess charter fleet for the summer season.Maltese Falcon is an iconic vessel, which was launched by Perini Navi in 2006 and designed by Ken Freivokh Design. She can accommodate 12 guests across six cabins. In 2023 she will get a new 10 sq. m pool, modification will be done on the flybridge deck, and a new deck will be added in the tender bay area. The area for accommodating also will be changed, including the master and VIP suites. The table will be replaced with the new one at the dining area. Maltese Falcon is one of the most recognizable yachts in the world and very popular among charter clients. Credits: Burgess; Yacht Harbour archive
December 1, 2022
Roman Shipyard Canados announced that the new Gladiator 493 Grand is getting ready for testing. She is expected to reach a top speed of more than 50 knots. The Gladiator 493 Grand’s design offers a modern classic appeal and comfortable interiors. She comes with a deep swimming platform which, as an option, can be converted into hydraulic swimming or boarding stairs. The aft deck sun pad is generous, and hides a garage and the helm station is protected by a laminated glass windshield. The fore deck offers the exact same setup as the 431 WA with its gigantic sun pad and chaise lounge.The interior comes with two cabins and two baths. Located in Ostia, just 7 km from Rome Airport, the iconic Rome based Canados shipyard was founded in 1946 and has successfully delivered over 850 yachts in sizes up to 43 meters. Canados produces 3 product lines, Canados, Gladiator and Oceanic. Canados 80,000 sq. m waterfront facility is located at the mouth of the River, 500 meter from the sea. Credits: Canados
November 30, 2022
Azimut has sold 22 units of its new Azimut Grande 26M series since August, when the first hull was launched at its Viareggio facilities. The yacht debuted at the 2022 Cannes Yachting Festival.Her exterior was made by Alberto Mancini, while the interiors were made by Achille Salvagni. Grande 26M's key feature is the ‘Deck2Deck’, a design element that sees the transom raise flush with the aft edge of the main deck. This creates an extendable deck that can be utilized as a lounge area or dining space, with convertible furniture on hand to help owners customize it to their needs.The first hull was launched at August The yacht has a fluid layout that prioritizes independence between crew and guest areas. Designed for a “contemporary owner”, the yacht is home to a main deck owner’s suite with full-height windows that let in plenty of light. She can accommodate 10 guests in five cabins. Grande 26M is one of Azimut’s new generation of low-emission yachts and is the “first in its category fitted with the new 4600 Pod propulsion system developed by ZF.”Azimut reports that the combination of high-efficiency propulsion systems and a lightweight carbon fiber superstructure translates into a 20 per cent reduction in fuel consumption compared with boats the same size.Azimut Yachts is an Azimut Benetti Group brand. With its Atlantis, Magellano Flybridge, S, Verve and Grande collections, Azimut offers the widest range of 10 to 40 meters.Credits: Azimut Yachts
November 30, 2022
Camper & Nicholsons offers to explore the wonders of the world’s southernmost continent on board of Tranquility. The 91.5 meter yacht will be available for charter from December 2023 until February 2024. Tranquility joins a growing number of superyachts journeying to the far reaches of the planet to satisfy an increasing appetite for adventurous cruising. “We are all seeing a desire from clients to venture to these distant “untouched” parts of the world. Charter has evolved,” explains Nicole Terry, charter manager. “Guests want to explore and have these once-in-a-lifetime experiences in parts of the world that only a superyacht can take you, and of course Tranquility is more than happy to oblige!”Launched in 2014 by Oceanco, Tranquility is well equipped for the harsh conditions of the Southern Ocean. It has a cruising range of 5,000 nautical miles, is certified to Lloyd’s Ice Class E, and has state-of-the-art navigational equipment with sonars for detecting uncharted rocks and ice growlers. From The Northwest Passage and Greenland to the snow-topped fjords of northern Norway, Tranquility has had ample experience in cold weather cruising and is helmed by Finnish Captains, for whom ice water cruising is almost second nature.Clients can expect to be awed by “the majestic untouched nature, the solitude, the silence, and the feeling of entering another world,” explains Tranquility’s Captain Jan Rautawaara, who is no stranger to these waters. “Being able to visit remote, desolate places, and to see some extraordinary wildlife is a true adventure,” he adds, hoping that bringing guests on an Antarctic expedition will “broaden our own understanding of nature and make us realize how important it is to preserve this fragile life around us.”Tranquility’s exterior and interior designed by Andrew Winch. She features two luxurious salons onboard, and a generous wellness area with fitness center, experiential showers, a massage and treatment room, hair and beauty salon, Hammam steam room, and a Finnish sauna. Tranquility can accommodate 18 guests across nine staterooms, and up to 22 with the use of two convertible cabins. <iframe width=560 height=315 src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/HmY1bk5oLZo title=YouTube video player frameborder=0 allow=accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture allowfullscreen></iframe>The yacht will be available for winter charter season in Antarctica’s frozen beauty USD1,600,000 per week. Credits: Camper & Nicholsons
November 30, 2022
The 31m Archipelago was sold by Northrop & Johnson’s broker Ed Dickinson representing the buyer. Archipelago was delivered as a highly customized Darwin 102 by Cantiere delle Marche in 2019. She is a full displacement motor yacht with a steel hull and aluminum superstructure. She was built to RINA classification and in compliance with commercial code LY3. The yacht can comfortably accommodate 10 guests across five cabins, including a full-beam master and two double and two twin staterooms. Her interior, designed by Francesco Guida, has a minimum floor-to-ceiling height of 2.1m, making her feel much more voluminous than other yachts of a similar size.Her exterior spaces were designed to be flexible; the main deck cockpit can be totally enclosed and air conditioned. A second, more formal dining area on the upper deck seats up to 10. Sunbathing spaces can be found on both the foredeck and sundeck alongside a custom built pool with a bar and an open galley with BBQ.Archipelago has a range of 4,500 nautical miles at 10 knots, cruising comfortably at 11 and with a maximum speed of 13. She is equipped with zero speed stabilizers to ensure comfort and stability, and with a hull thickness of 12mm to allow for global exploration.CDM's story begins in 2010. The facilities cover an overall surface of 16˙000 square meters, including 7˙000 sq. m of workshops and 1˙000 sq. m of docks. Since 2015, the shipyard has been the world’s leading builder of explorer yachts. Based in Ancona, Cantiere delle Marche builds yachts from 26m to 43m in length.Credits: CdM
November 29, 2022